Food allergy

Food allergy is an adverse immune response to a food protein. They are distinct from other adverse responses to food, such as food intolerance, pharmacological reactions, and toxin-mediated reactions.

A protein in the food is the most common allergic component. These kinds of allergies occur when the body's immune system mistakenly identifies a protein as harmful. Some proteins or fragments of proteins are resistant to digestion and those that are not broken down in the digestive process are tagged by the Immunoglobulin E (IgE). These tags fool the immune system into thinking that the protein is harmful. The immune system, thinking the organism (the individual) is under attack, triggers an allergic reaction. These reactions can range from mild to severe. Allergic responses include dermatitis, gastrointestinal and respiratory distress, including such life-threatening anaphylactic responses as biphasic anaphylaxis and vasodilation; these require immediate emergency intervention. Non-food protein allergies include latex sensitivity. Individuals with protein allergies commonly avoid contact with the problematic protein. Some medications may prevent, minimize or treat protein allergy reactions.

Treatment consists of either immunotherapy (desensitisation) or avoidance, in which the allergic person avoids all forms of contact with the food to which they are allergic. Areas of research include anti-IgE antibody (omalizumab, or Xolair) and specific oral tolerance induction (SOTI), which have shown some promise for treatment of certain food allergies. People diagnosed with a food allergy may carry an injectable form of epinephrine such as an EpiPen or Twinject, wear some form of medical alert jewelry, or develop an emergency action plan, in accordance with their doctor.

Classification

Food allergy is thought to develop more easily in patients with the atopic syndrome, a very common combination of diseases: allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis, eczema and asthma. The syndrome has a strong inherited component; a family history of allergic diseases can be indicative of the atopic syndrome.

Conditions caused by food allergies are classified into 3 groups according to the mechanism of the allergic response:

1. IgE-mediated (classic):

Type-I immediate hypersensitivity reaction (symptoms described above)

Oral allergy syndrome

2. IgE and/or non-IgE-mediated:

Allergic eosinophilic esophagitis

Allergic eosinophilic gastritis

Allergic eosinophilic gastroenteritis

3. Non-IgE mediated:

Food protein-induced Enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES)

Food protein proctocolitis/proctitis

Food protein-induced enteropathy. An important example is Celiac disease, which is an adverse immune response to the protein gluten.

Milk-soy protein intolerance (MSPI) is a non-medical term used to describe a non-IgE mediated allergic response to milk and/or soy protein during infancy and early childhood. Symptoms of MSPI are usually attributable to food protein proctocolitis or FPIES.

Heiner syndrome — lung disease due to formation of milk protein/IgG antibody immune complexes (milk precipitins) in the blood stream after it is absorbed from the GI tract. The lung disease commonly causes bleeding into the lungs and results in pulmonary hemosiderosis.

food allergy pharmacologic toxins intolerance

adverse immune response to a food protein caffeine tremors, cheese/wine (tyramine) migraine, scombroid (histamine) fish poisoning bacterial food poisoning, staphylotoxin lactose intolerance (lactase deficiency)

The reaction may progress to anaphylactic shock: A systemic reaction involving several different bodily systems including hypotension (low blood pressure),loss of consciousness, and possibly death. Allergens most frequently associated with this type of reaction are peanuts, nuts, milk, egg, and seafood, though many food allergens have been reported as triggers for anaphylaxis.

Signs and symptoms

Classic immunoglobulin-E (IgE)-mediated food allergies are classified as type-I immediate Hypersensitivity reaction. These allergic reactions have an acute onset (from seconds to one hour) and may include:

Symptoms of allergies vary from person to person. The amount of food needed to trigger a reaction also varies from person to person. Symptoms vary depending on the severity of the allergy, and they can appear in as little as a few minutes or may take up to an hour. Symptoms affect the skin, gastrointestinal tract, and in severe cases, the respiratory tract and blood circulation.

Tags: Kool-Aid Man , Drinking the Kool-Aid , Kool-Aid

Kool-Aid Man

Kool-Aid Man is the mascot for Kool-Aid, a popular drink mix. The character has appeared on television and print advertising as a fun-loving gigantic pitcher, filled with red Kool-Aid and marked with a fingerpainted smiley face. He is typically featured interrupting children mid-conversation by smashing through walls and furnishings, brandishing a filled pitcher, and yelling "Oh Yeah!".

History

Before he was officially the Kool-Aid Man back in 1975, he was the “Pitcher Man”. The Pitcher Man was created in 1954 by Marvin Plotts, an art director for a New York-based advertising agency. General Foods had just purchased Kool-Aid from the drink’s creator Edwin Perkins the year before, and Plotts was charged with drafting a concept to illustrate the copy message: “A 5-cent package makes two quarts. " Working from his Chicago home on a cold day, Plotts watched as his young son traced smiley face patterns on a frosty windowpane," recounts Sue Uerling, marketing and communications director for Hastings Museum of Natural and Cultural History. This inspired Marvin Plotts to create a beaming glass pitcher filled with flavorful drink: the Pitcher Man. From there on the joyful pitcher was on all the Kool-Aid’s advertisements.

In 1975 Kraft Foods created the character’s first costume with arms and legs. He also became more of an action figure in commercials — performing extreme sports and busting through brick walls. Kool-Aid Man is famously known for shouting, “Oh, Yeah!” as he is summoned by thirsty children with the phrase, "Hey, Kool-Aid!". Commercials of the era also featured a catchy jingle, always ending with the Kool-Aid Man's phrase.

Starting in the late 1980s, the character was given dialogue, and his mouth would be digitally manipulated to "move" while the voice actor talked. Sometime in the 1990s, the live-action character was retired; from that point until 2008, the character became entirely computer-generated (although other characters—such as the kids—remained live-action). In 2000, a new series of commercials were created for Kool-Aid Fierce and the actor chosen to play Kool-Aid Man was Jon Carr. The most recent Kool-Aid commercials feature a new and different live-action Kool-Aid Man playing street basketball and battling "Cola" to stay balanced on a log.

Kool-Aid Man was the subject of two Kool-Aid man video games for the Atari 2600 and the Intellivision systems. He was also given his own short-lived comic book series, The Adventures of Kool-Aid Man, in the early-to-mid-1980s by Marvel Comics.

Kool-Aid Man was also featured in the Family Guy episode Death Has A Shadow, which was extremely popular as he burst through a wall in a courtroom and said, "oh yeah!". Where upon seeing he created a scene and no one in the room spoke, he slowly backed out of the hole he had made in the wall. Oh Yeah was the catchphrase of the advertising character.
Tags:  Drinking the Kool-Aid , Kool-Aid

Drinking the Kool-Aid

"Drinking the Kool-Aid" is a metaphor, used in the United States and Canada, that means to become an unquestioning believer in some ideology, or to accept an argument or philosophy wholeheartedly or blindly without critical examination. The phrase usually implies that the ideology in question is not good. The term is a reference to the November 1978 Jonestown Massacre, where members of the Peoples Temple were said to have committed suicide by drinking a "Kool-Aid"-like drink laced with cyanide.

Evidence gathered at the Jonestown site after the incident indicated that Flavor Aid (a similar powdered drink mix), not Kool-Aid, was used in the massacre. Some survivors of the incident object to the link between blind faith and the deaths of members of the People's Temple implied by the phrase, since some victims were murdered—forced to drink at gunpoint—rather than being convinced or forced to commit suicide. In addition, Jim Jones had previously had many rehearsals for the event in which the drink contained no poison, which led to cult members believing the drink was harmless on the day that it did contain poison

Objections notwithstanding, the phrase is commonly used in a variety of contexts to describe blind, uncritical acceptance or following, generally in a derogatory sense.

Jonestown massacre

In the Jonestown cult suicide, Jim Jones, the leader of the Peoples Temple, had persuaded followers to move to Guyana and found the commune of Jonestown. In November 1978, faced with exposure of some of his misdeeds, he had the visiting U.S. Representative Leo Ryan killed and ordered the residents to commit suicide by drinking a flavored beverage laced with potassium cyanide. Those unable to comply, such as infants, and those unwilling to comply, received involuntary injections. Roughly 918 people died.

Present-day descriptions of the event often refer to the beverage not as Kool-Aid but as Flavor Aid,a less-expensive product reportedly found at the site. Kraft Foods, the maker of Kool-Aid, has stated the same. Implied by this accounting of events is that the reference to the Kool-Aid brand owes exclusively to its being better-known among Americans. Others are less categorical. Both brands are known to have been among the commune's supplies: Film footage shot inside the compound prior to the events of November shows Jones opening a large chest in which boxes of both Flavor Aid and Kool-Aid are visible. Criminal investigators testifying at the Jonestown inquest spoke of finding packets of "cool aid" (sic), and eyewitnesses to the incident are also recorded as speaking of "cool aid" or "Cool Aid. However, it is unclear whether they intended to refer to the actual Kool-Aid–brand drink or were using the name in a generic sense that might refer to any powdered flavored beverage.

Use

According to scholar Rebecca Moore, early analogies to Jonestown and Kool-Aid were based around death and suicide, not blind obedience. The earliest such example she found, via a Lexis-Nexis search, was a 1982 statement from Lane Kirkland, then head of the AFL-CIO, which described Ronald Reagan's policies as "Jonestown economics," which "administers Kool-Aid to the poor, the deprived and the unemployed.

The widespread use of the phrase with its current meaning may have begun in the late 1990s. In some cases it has taken on a neutral or even positive light, implying simply great enthusiasm. In 1998, the dictionary website logophilia.com defined the phrase as "To become a firm believer in something; to accept an argument or philosophy whole-heartedly.

The phrase has been used in the business and technology worlds to mean fervent devotion to a certain company or technology. A 2000 The New York Times article about the end of the dot-com bubble noted, "The saying around San Francisco Web shops these days, as companies run out of money, is 'Just keep drinking the Kool-Aid,' a tasteless reference to the Jonestown massacre." Because the People's Temple was located in San Francisco before it relocated to Guyana, there were many connections between the Bay 

The phrase or metaphor has also often been used in a political context, usually with a negative implication. In 2002, Arianna Huffington used the phrase "pass the Kool-Aid, pardner" in a column about an economic forum hosted by President George W. Bush. Later, commentators Michelangelo Signorile and Bill O'Reilly have used the term to describe those whom they perceive as following certain ideologies blindly. In a 2009 speech, Newsweek editor Jon Meacham stressed his political independence by saying, "I did not drink the Obama Kool-Aid last year.

Alternative meaning

The expression has also been used to refer to the activities of the Merry Pranksters, a group of people associated with novelist Ken Kesey who, in the early 1960s, traveled around the United States and held events called "Acid Tests", where LSD-laced Kool-Aid was passed out to the public (LSD was legal in the U.S. until 1966). Those who drank the "Kool-Aid" passed the "Acid Test". "Drinking the Kool-Aid" in that context meant taking LSD. These events were described in Tom Wolfe's 1968 classic The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. However, the expression is never used figuratively in the book, only literally.
Tags: Kool-Aid Man ,  Kool-Aid

Kool-Aid

Kool-Aid is a brand of flavored drink mix owned by the Kraft Foods Company.

Invention and production

Kool-Aid was invented by Edwin Perkins and his wife Kitty in Hastings, Nebraska, United States. All of his experiments took place in his mother's kitchen. Its predecessor was a liquid concentrate called Fruit Smack. To reduce shipping costs, in 1927, Perkins discovered a way to remove the liquid from Fruit Smack, leaving only a powder. This powder was named Kool-Aid. Perkins moved his production to Chicago in 1931 and Kool-Aid was sold to General Foods in 1953.

Hastings still celebrates a yearly summer festival called Kool-Aid Days on the second weekend in August, in honor of their city's claim to fame.

Kool-Aid is known as Nebraska's official soft drink.

Advertising and promotion

Kool-Aid Man

Kool-Aid Man, an anthropomorphic frosty pitcher filled with Kool-Aid, is the mascot of Kool-Aid. The character was introduced shortly after General Foods acquired the brand. In TV and print ads, Kool-Aid Man was known for bursting suddenly through walls of children's homes and proceeding to make a batch of Kool-Aid for them. His catch phrase is "Oh, yeah!" The Kool-Aid Man mascot has been around since the 1960s in their earlier years of production.

Starting in 2011, Kraft began allocating the majority of the Kool-Aid marketing budget towards Latinos. According to the brand, almost 20 percent of Kool-Aid drinkers are Hispanic, and slightly more than 20 percent are African-American.

In popular culture

"Drinking the Kool-Aid" refers to the 1978 Jonestown Massacre; the phrase suggests that one has mindlessly adopted the dogma of a group or leader without fully understanding the ramifications or implications: at Jonestown, Jim Jones' followers followed him to the end: after visiting Congressman Leo Ryan was shot at the airstrip, all the Peoples Temple members drank from a metal vat containing a mixture of "Kool Aid", Cyanide, and prescription drugs Valium, Phenergan, and chloral hydrate. Present-day descriptions of the event often refer to the beverage not as Kool-Aid but as Flavor Aid, a less-expensive product reportedly found at the site. Kraft Foods, the maker of Kool-Aid, has stated the same. Implied by this accounting of events is that the reference to the Kool-Aid brand owes exclusively to its being better-known among Americans. Others are less categorical. Both brands are known to have been among the commune's supplies: Film footage shot inside the compound prior to the events of November shows Jones opening a large chest in which boxes of both Flavor Aid and Kool-Aid are visible. Criminal investigators testifying at the Jonestown inquest spoke of finding packets of "cool aid" (sic), and eyewitnesses to the incident are also recorded as speaking of "cool aid" or "Cool Aid. However, it is unclear whether they intended to refer to the actual Kool-Aid–brand drink or were using the name in a generic sense that might refer to any powdered flavored beverage.

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is a work of literary journalism by Tom Wolfe depicting the life of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters. The book's title is a reference to an acid test in Watts, California, where the Pranksters spiked a batch of Kool-Aid with the psychedelic drug LSD in the 1960s.

Family Guy has often featured the Kool-Aid Man bursting through a wall and exclaiming "Oh yeah!" This happens at inappropriate times, leaving the Kool-Aid Man embarrassed as he retreats back into the hole he made, e.g. towards the end of the courtroom scene in "Stewie Kills Lois" (Season 6, episode 4).

Comedian Dane Cook has a comedy routine about the Kool-Aid Man.

Flavors

Original 7 flavors Cherry, Grape, Lemon-Lime, Orange, Raspberry, Strawberry, Root Beer (Discontinued)

Singles flavorsBlack Cherry, Tropical Punch, Lemonade, Pink Lemonade, Rhubarb, Cherry, Watermelon

Sugar-Free flavors Double Double Cherry, Triple Awesome Grape, Lemonade, Soarin' Strawberry Lemonade, Tropical Punch, Raspberry, Watermelon

Agua Frescas flavors Jamaica, Mandarina-Tangerine, Mango, Tamarindo, Piña-Pineapple

Other flavors worldwide or previously available Apple, Bunch Berry, Blastin' Berry Cherry, Blue Berry Blast, Cherry, Cherry Cracker, Chocolate, Cola, Eerie Orange, Frutas,Vermelhas, Golden Nectar, Grape, Grape Blackberry, Grape Tang, Melon Mango, Strawberry Splash, Great Blueberry, Great Blue-dini, Groselha, Guaraná, Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade, Incrediberry, Kickin-Kiwi-Lime, Kolita, Lemon, Lemonade, Lemonade Sparkle, Lemon-Lime, Lime, Man-o-Mangoberry, Mango, Mountainberry Punch, Oh-Yeah Orange-Pineapple, Orange, Orange Enerjooz, Pina-Pineapple, Pink Lemonade, Pink Swimmingo, Purplesaurus Rex, Rainbow Punch, Raspberry, Roarin' Raspberry Cranberry, Rock-a-Dile Red, Root Beer, Scary Black Cherry, Scary Blackberry, Sharkleberry Fin, Slammin' Strawberry-Kiwi, Soarin' Strawberry-Lemonade, Strawberry, Strawberry Falls Punch, Strawberry Split, Strawberry-Raspberry, Sunshine Punch, Surfin' Berry Punch, Tangerine, Tropical Punch, Watermelon-Cherry, Shaking Starfruit, Watermelon

Also available were Solar Strawberry-Starfruit , Artic Green Apple , Swirlin' Strawberry-Starfruit and Lemon Ice.

Other products

Kool-Aid Twists Mountain Dew

Kool-Aid Ice Cream Bars

Kool-Aid Singles

Kool-Aid Bursts

Kool-Aid Jammerz

Kool-Aid Fun Fizz

Kool-Aid Pop 'n Drop

Kool-Aid Koolers (discontinued)
Tags: Kool-Aid Man , Drinking the Kool-Aid